"In the war against the militias every door American troops crash through, every civilian bystander shot,there will be many,will make matters worse, for a while. Nevertheless, the first task of the occupation remains the first task of government: to establish a monopoly on violence."--George Will
George Will, like many of his ilk did not serve his country when called; yet another right-wing chicken hawk.
I have come across the George Will quote offered above, twice- here and here. Both articles are relatively short and bear reading.
In light of the above links I offer "Frequently Asked Questions on Occupation" linked from Human Rights Watch.
Senior Commanders of the British military in Iraq have cited US Military treatment of Iraqis as "heavy handed and disproportionate", even "tragic".
The officer explained that, under British military rules of war, British troops would never be given clearance to carry out attacks similar to those being conducted by the US military, in which helicopter gunships have been used to fire on targets in urban areas.
British rules of engagement only allow troops to open fire when attacked, using the minimum force necessary and only at identified targets.
The American approach was markedly different: "When US troops are attacked with mortars in Baghdad, they use mortar-locating radar to find the firing point and then attack the general area with artillery, even though the area they are attacking may be in the middle of a densely populated residential area.
Case in Point: The Iraqi Town of Falluja
I am just going to give you links to follow to look into American use of force. I offer no judgement, having no more insight than you into just what is happening there.
"Sarajevo on the Euphrates: An Eyewitness Account From Inside the US siege of Falluja" by Dahr Jamail
"Eyewitness Report from Falluja" by Jo Wilding
The two accounts above seem to be by people who experienced Falluja together.
"Fallujah Refugees Describe Horrors of U.S. Siege" Aaron Glantz
"Report from Fallujah -- Destroying a Town in Order to Save it" by Rahul Mahajan
After reading those accounts you may get the sense that the US military is emulating the brutal tactics used by the Israeli Defense Force in Occupied Palestine. It seems the US is getting training from Israeli advisors in "urban warfare".
Compare the eyewitness accounts of Falluja with the anecdotal evidence from survivors of what Shimon Peres termed a massacre, the Israeli Defense Forces "Operation Defensive Shield" in Jenin which was launched this time two years ago in the Occupied Territories. Much like Falluja it is an example of your tax dollars at work. In fairness I offer the first person account of a bulldozer driver who spent 75 straight hours on a US made bulldozer drinking whisky and knocking down Palestinian houses.
Many people where inside houses we demolish. They would come out of the houses we where working on. I didn't see, with my own eyes, people dying under the blade of the D-9. and I didn't see house falling down on live people. But if there were any, I wouldn't care at all. I am sure people died inside these houses, but it was difficult to see, there was lots of dust everywhere, and we worked a lot at night. I found joy with every house that came down, because I knew they didn't mind dying, but they cared for their homes. If you knocked down a house, you buried 40 or 50 people for generations. If I am sorry for anything, it is for not tearing the whole camp down.
Iraqi folks have seen this style of occupation for years on their tv sets.
"Moreover, the problem no one really seems to want to address is the Iraqi perception that the US uncritically backs Israel and has strong anti-Islamic elements, and that Iraqis see constant images of Israelis attacking Palestinians on Arab satellite TV."
An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind, as Ghandi put it.
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